Got a Troll? Tips for responding to comments?

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The more active your Facebook page gets the more comments and wall posts you are likely to get. The big question is: how to reply?

Always reply!
Unless the comment is just a quick “Thank you”, you should pretty much always respond. This does not mean that you have to write a full reply, sometimes giving the comment a “like” is sufficient.

Don’t delete.
It is generally a bad idea to delete any comment or wall post, even if it is negative. People will tend to think that you are avoiding an issue and will make a bigger deal out of deleting a comment than if you just respond. The only time you should delete a comment is if it is truly inappropriate, like porn or hate speech. If you do delete a comment that was in a discussion thread, I would recommend making a comment in the thread that addresses the deletion and why you did it.

Those are the two golden rules of managing your comments, but obviously there is more to it than that.

Positive Comments: These are usually praising your brand or your product. The person is commenting on the value you bring to their consumer experience. These are really important to respond to. This is how you build brand loyalty. Thank the person for the comment and try to add some additional value, like a fact relating to their comment – or tip them off to some exciting developments.

Constructive Criticism: This might be negative feedback but it is usually in an area that can be improved, like customer service or an issue with the product. Consider these as opportunities for flexing your customer service muscle. You can take the feedback and expand it to an email to help resolve their issue. Or if there is a solution, you can tell them how it is being addressed and thank them for bringing it to your attention. When you address the criticism head on, you are also building brand loyalty. It shows the person that you value their opinion.

Negative: These comments are usually from a bad personal experience. It can be an opportunity to remedy the situation if possible, or at least apologize. You may not gain a new friend, but it will smooth out the situation and show other people that you are invested in the customer/client experience with your brand. Plus, if one person had an unsatisfactory experience there is a good chance that others have as well, but aren’t telling you.

Spam: This is pretty much the one thing you can delete without the worry of getting pushback from your fan base. In fact, most will appreciate you moderating comments and getting rid of the spam; it will show that you care about the content on your page.